Summary

Decent Graphic Adventure

The Good

"Dragonsphere" (1994) has all the basic ear marks of a great third person perspective, point n' click, graphic adventure game, i.e. an original storyline, locations to explore, characters to talk with, items to pick up and puzzles to solve. For the early 1990's, the graphics and music are good and the game even tosses in some nice, unexpected, plot twists.

The Bad

Michael Bross worked on the music and has talent shines through. However, the other sound effects are largely forgettable. The voice talents are not bad, but they never go far beyond what one might expect from a B movie on the science fiction cable channel. While the storyline does demonstrate real creativity, it’s hard to avoid the homage’s to Tolkien and other well known sources of fantasy art and fiction. In terms of game play, the Microprose Adventure Development System provides for smooth point n’ click gaming. Time limits in adventure games generally bother me, although it is a logical extension of the storyline. This is not for novice adventure gamers as many of the puzzles are actually quite challenging and death is frequent.

The Bottom Line

"Dragonsphere" (1994) is a challenging point n' click graphic adventure game set in an original, but familiar, fantasy based world of monsters, might and magic. It may be too hard for novice adventure gamers, and it is probably not the best introduction to the genre. Yet, more experienced adventure gamers should give it a try.